1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to computers, and more particularly to a method of file profiling to minimize fragmentation in storage devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Computer storage devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs) provide the persistent magnetic media that much of the worlds electronic data is stored. One the of primary rationales for storing data on hard disk drives are their characteristics of direct access storage devices allows for efficient access to random locations within the storage device as compared to other storage media such as sequential access devices like tape media and drives. Hard disk drives are more efficient in accessing data due in part to their mechanical construction and the geometry that is employed to allow the media platters and read/write heads to very quickly be repositioned to disparate locations of the media storage.
A typical, so-called hard disk “defragmenter” will perform two operations. First, the defragmenter will try to eliminate file fragmentation. Second, the defragmenter will compact the file system of the storage device.
Defragmenters currently known in the art tend to leave the respective storage device in a state which will readily fragment again. The defragmenters incorporate algorithms which rely on static file sizes to discourage fragmentation.